Teacher groups thank Jindal for support of rights

BATON ROUGE – Representatives of state teacher organizations expressed appreciation for Gov. Bobby Jindal’s executive order enforcing teachers’ right to speak out on issues.

Jindal’s order came in response to a Rapides Parish teacher complaining that she was asked by school administrators to remove from her Facebook page a post critical of Common Core State Standards. She said she was then “written up” for putting her personal feelings on the site.

Other teachers also said they felt intimidated and not allowed to voice their opinions at public forums.

Jindal’s order points out that the state and federal constitutions “guarantee to every individual the freedom of speech and protection from government abridgment of that right” and “this same freedom and protection under the law extends to every teacher in every classroom across the state of Louisiana.”

He says school officials have no authority to “deny a teacher's constitutional freedom of speech in order to stifle the discussion and debate surrounding curriculum and standardized assessments by teachers.”

All boards, commissions, agencies, departments and governmental entities are to see that the order is upheld.

“The governor did the right thing,” said Les Landon, spokesman for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.

“Teachers don’t surrender their First Amendment rights when they go to work for a school district,” he said. “They have every right to weigh in on important education issues and it’s outrageous that an administrator would make any attempt to stifle teachers’ contribution to the debate.”

Debbie Meaux, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said members of her organizations “are pleased with the governor’s recognition of the constitutional rights of educators. Teachers are citizens and we have the same rights as anyone and they shouldn’t have to be fearful for their jobs if they speak out.”

Meaux said school administrators trying to quash opposition opinions “is not an uncommon complaint” and Act 1, which shifted more authority to superintendents and made it easier to fire teachers, has teachers on edge.

Sometimes, “teachers fear their professional judgment has been minimalized to the point of not mattering,” she said.

“Some teachers said they were asked by principals to take down negative comments about schools and school districts,” she said. “Some are here in Baton Rouge but it’s not just here. I’ve had several teachers say they were approached by administrators in my own parish, Vermilion Parish, to take down something that was negative.”

Meaux said school administrators naturally want to “put out a positive face on schools so the public doesn’t get a negative impression.”

She also said teachers should use some discretion. “It’s one thing to have teacher lounge talk, but it’s another when it’s printed” because that can be easily spread to a much larger audience.

“We’re glad the governor recognizes that education employees are citizens and have a right to speak out on issues,” Meaux said.